Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Message9
  The Book of Ruth is one of the most fascinating and important short stories that anyone has ever written. As a piece of literature it is almost perfect. The German poet Goethe called it "the loveliest complete work on a small...
• Scope
  The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
• Message16
  The central subject of 1 and 2 Chronicles is the temple of God. Someone evidently wrote these books at the end of the Babylonian exile to encourage the Israelites to reestablish Israel's national life in the Promised Land. In...
• Outline
  I. Israel's historical roots chs. 1-9A. The lineage of David chs. 1-3B. The house of Israel chs. 4-71. The family of Judah 4:1-232. The family of Simeon 4:24-433. The families of Transjordan ch. 54. The family of Levi ch. 65....
• A. The Death of Saul ch. 10
  "Having established the remnant's genealogical link with the Davidic and priestly lines, he [the writer] focused on the groundwork of the Davidic promises. His design was to show how the kingly and priestly concerns came toge...
• C. David's Mighty Men 11:10-12:40
  This list of great warriors reflects the greatness of David. We know something about a man or woman by the company he or she keeps. The writer identified three groups: the chiefs among David's mighty men (11:10-25), the might...
• D. David and the Ark chs. 13-16
  "In the Chronicler's eyes David's reign consisted of two great religious phases, his movement of the ark to Jerusalem (chs. 13-16) and his preparations for the building of the temple (chs. 17-19 or at least 17-22, 28, 29). Th...
• E. God's Covenant Promises to David chs. 17-29
  The dominating theme in 1 Chronicles is the Davidic Covenant, the receiving of which was the most important event in David's life. God promised to give him an eternal kingdom, and He formalized that promise by making a covena...
• 1. The first account of God's promises to David chs. 17-21
  In some particulars the promises God gave David related to himself personally. However other promises pertained to his descendants and, in particular, to one descendant who would do for Israel much more than David could do. I...
• The promises of the Davidic Covenant 17:1-15
  The main reason God did not allow David to proceed with his plans to build Him a house (temple) was that God, not David, was sovereign. A secondary reason was that David was a man of war (22:8; 28:3). God reserved the right t...
• David's response to God's promises 17:16-27
  David manifested attitudes of humility (v. 16) and trust (v. 27) in his prayer. Most of what he prayed was thanksgiving for what God had promised (vv. 20-27)."The erection of the temple was an assertion of the divine control ...
• God's provision of a place for Israel ch. 21
  Chapter 21 records the fulfillment of God's second personal promise to David, namely, that He would appoint a place where Israel could dwell securely (17:9). This was a promise of peace for Israel, but as the verses following...
• 3. The third account of God's promises to David chs. 28-29
  A primary concern of the Chronicler, the evidence of which is his selection of material and emphases, was the promise of a King who would eventually come and rule over God's people. God had fulfilled some of the Davidic Coven...
• David's blessing 29:10-22
  "The climax of David's reign, as portrayed by the Chronicler, has now been reached. All the preparations for building the temple have been completed, and Solomon, chosen by God as the one who shall bring the plans to fruition...
• III. THE REIGN OF SOLOMON chs. 1--9
  The Chronicler's main interest in David's reign, as we have seen, focused on the Davidic Covenant with its promises to David and his descendants. In recounting the events of Solomon's reign he proceeded to emphasize the templ...
• E. Solomon's Successes chs. 8-9
  This section of the text is similar to 1 Chronicles 18-21. Those chapters showed how God did keep His promises to David that the Chronicler recorded in 1 Chronicles 17:8-12. These chapters (8-9) show how God kept His promise ...
• 6. Jehoshaphat's failures 20:31-37
  The reference to Jehoshaphat's not removing the high places (v. 33) seems to contradict what the writer said in 17:6. Perhaps when the people rebuilt the high places that Jehoshaphat destroyed earlier in his reign he failed t...
• M. Hezekiah chs. 29-32
  In contrast to Ahaz, we can see Hezekiah's love for Yahweh in how he cared for the temple. Ahaz's reign was full of war, but Hezekiah enjoyed peace. God rewarded Hezekiah's spiritual restoration of Judah with a remarkable mil...
• R. The Edict of Cyrus 36:22-23
  These two verses determine the whole mood of Chronicles. Rather than ending with the failure of man the writer concluded by focusing our attention on the faithfulness of God (cf. Lam. 3:22-23). God was in control of the Persi...
• Psalm 89
  The writer of this royal psalm was Ethan, another wise Levitical musician in David's service (1 Kings 4:31; 1 Chron. 15:17-18).The occasion of writing is unclear. Judging from the content of the psalm it appears to have been ...
• 1. God's character and covenant with David 89:1-4
  Ethan announced two major themes of this psalm in verses 1 and 2. These are the loyal love (Heb. hesed) and faithfulness of Yahweh. References to God's loyal love occur in verses 1, 2, 14, 24, 28, 33, and 49. He referred to G...
• Free salvation 55:1-5
  The people would need to listen to and rely on God's unconditional promise, but their salvation would cost them nothing.55:1 "The introductory particle (hoi) is mainly an attention-getting device, but it expresses a slight to...
• B. The Superiority of God's Son 1:5-14
  The writer proceeded to explain the exaltation of Jesus Christ to help his readers appreciate the fact that He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy concerning the Son of David. He did this so they would appreciate Him properly an...